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Authors: Jasveen Kaur, Jobanjeet Kaur

Abstract: Travellers evaluate online travel reviews usage through their argument quality and credibility of the source. As a result, travel marketers such as hoteliers, destination marketers and travel agency websites managers should set up mechanisms to assess tourists’ concern to avoid unfavorable experience from social media reviews. Accordingly, this study aims to develop a scale and validate the modified Information Adoption Model (IAM) in the tourism context, while studying the impact of online review usefulness on its adoption. Secondly, the mediation role of travelers’ attitude toward online reviews between review usefulness and its adoption is determined. Further, the credibility of online travel review adoption on the behavioral intentions of travelers has been assessed. This paper adapts the modified IAM given by Abedi et al. (2019) to develop scale and provide a comprehensive model in the tourism context. The study used 284 travelers who use online travel reviews from social media for their trip planning to evaluate the proposed model through SmartPLS software. The results show that online travel review usefulness significantly affects online travel review adoption. Secondly, the relationship between online review usefulness and its adoption is fully mediated by the mediating variable (attitude towards online travel reviews). Hence, this empirical paper intends to add to the research on online travel review adoption by travelers for their trip planning, considering the forwarding of information as one of the behavioral intentions along with purchase intentions,
which depicts the novelty of this paper.

Keywords: Online Travel Reviews, Travel Review Usefulness, Information Adoption Model, Trip-Planning, Social Media

DOI: 10.5937/turizam27-37875

Article info: 66-91

Received: May 2022 | Accepted: September 2022

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Authors: Vedat Çalışkan

Abstract: Fairs, which have been seen in several forms in various parts of the world throughout history, represent one of the oldest and most colorful events in the world. Today, the USA comes first among the countries with the highest number of fairs. County fairs, the early examples of which were seen in the 18th century in the USA, became widespread throughout the country with the agricultural-society movement. Combining traditions of agricultural education and exhibition with amusement and community traditions, county fairs are widely distributed in the United States and still attract great attention. This study aims to determine the current existence state and geographical and seasonal distribution of US county fairs, for this purpose a questionnaire was developed for fair boards’ administrations to respond. In addition to the main physical, functional and administrative features of the fairs, the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic, which deeply affects the fair organizations, are among the topics discussed in the research. The findings reveal that county fairs, which can be seen in almost every state, are especially geographically concentrated on states in the Midwest region, and are mostly held in summer and August. Although the COVID 19 pandemic period has led to the cancellation of many fairs, fair board representatives have optimistic expectations that the interest will increase after the pandemic period.

Keywords: County Fairs, American County Fairs, Traditions of U.S. County Fairs, COVID 19 Effects on Fairs.

DOI: 10.5937/turizam27-38009

Article info: 92-112

Received: May 2022 | Accepted: December 2022

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Authors: Sándor Hornyák, Zoltán Karancsi, Annamária Korom, Ferenc Győri

Abstract: Nowadays, it is in our fast-developing big cities, that the steps taken to improve the inhabitants’ physical and mental health conditions have become increasingly important. The aim of health improvement can also be facilitated by extending the proportion of well-cared-for green areas in city centres, or, by rehabilitating particular buildings, streets, or districts; these developments have an obviously beneficial psychological effect on people. The establishment of such ’livable cities’ can be rewarding from the point view of tourism, too, because, in general, tourists are happy if they can spend their free time in an urban environment which is devoid of visual conflicts. This is the reason why our team of researchers attempted to identify a so-called ’Visual Livability Index’ (VLI) with the aim of qualifying the state our urban environment is in. When identifying the formerly mentioned index, primarily those positive and negative characteristic features are determined, which may have an impact on the aesthetic value of the settlement. Then, after summarizing the results of evaluations, the next step taken is when the streets, squares, whole districts of the given settlement, or even the entire city is qualified with the help of the VLI index, thus making the results comparable with those of other similar settlements.

Keywords: Cityscape, Aesthetics Evaluation, Tourism, Urban Reconstruction, Visual conflict

DOI: 10.5937/turizam27-38907

Article info: 113–135

Received: Jun 2022 | Accepted: May 2023

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Authors: Juao Costa, Odilia Maria Honorina Lopes

Abstract: The tourism business has grown dramatically in recent years. The tourism industry contributes significantly to a country’s economic development as it provides various employment generation opportunities. Goa, India’s smallest state, is a popular tourist destination that draws visitors from all over the world. Numerous people in Goa, particularly those living around the coast, earn their livelihood by engaging in tourism related activities. The sun and sand of Goa are well-known. It is surrounded by natural beauty and includes a variety of heritage sites, churches museums and temples. Goa is promoted internationally as a beach tourism resort that has reached its peak. As a result, there is a need to promote additional tourism options. The current research focuses on Goa’s ecotourism. An attempt is made to identify latent motivational factors. Latent motivational factors were identified and categorised. Exploratory Factor Analysis and Chi square test were employed to analyse the data. This study also aimed to investigate how demographic characteristics affect travellers’ intentions to engage in ecotourism and their willingness to spend more on ecotourism. The study revealed that demographic considerations have no bearing on tourists’ desire to participate in ecotourism. Tourists’ willingness to spend more for ecotourism is also unaffected by demographic factors.

Keywords: Ecotourism, Travel motivation, Ecotourism intention, Willingness to pay premium, Goa, India

DOI: 10.5937/turizam27-40649

Article info: 136-147

Received: October 2022 | Accepted: July 2023